Frame bulk moduli of porous fluid-saturated sands

M. Kimura
Dept. of Geo-Environ. Tech., Tokai University, Shizuoka, Japan

ABSTRACT: The frame bulk modulus is important in analyzing the acoustic wave propagation in porous
water-saturated marine sediments such as sands. The measured results of the longitudinal wave velocities in
air-saturated glass beads with four different grain sizes, with almost the same porosity have been reported. The
measured results showed that the longitudinal wave velocity largely increases, as the grain size increases. These
results could not be explained using the classical contact theory, such as Hertz-Mindlin model. It is considered
that this phenomenon is due to the effect of the air elasticity between the grains. In this study, the longitudinal and
shear wave velocities in vacuum-, air- and water-saturated glass beads and beach sands are measured. The derived
frame bulk moduli in water-saturated samples are about ten times greater than that in air-saturated samples, and
the frame bulk moduli have dependence on the grain size. These phenomena can be explained using the gap
stiffness model.

1 INTRODUCTION 2 THEORY

The Biot-Stoll model is extensively used for analyz-
ing the acoustic wave propagation in porous water-
saturated marine sediments (Biot 1956a, Biot 1956b,
Stoll 1970, Chotiros 1995). For using the model, the
values of the thirteen physical parameters are required
to know. In these parameters, the value of the frame
bulk modulus is uncertain to determine. A lot of
researchers have used about 108 Pa for the values of the
frame bulk modulus. However, measured frequency
characteristics of longitudinal wave velocity are not
consistent with the calculated characteristics using the
frequency independent frame bulk modulus (Kimura
2002). We have shown the measured results of the
longitudinal wave velocity in air-saturated glass beads
with different grain sizes. The results showed that the
longitudinal wave velocity largely increases, as the
grain size increases, with the almost the same porosity.
These results can not be explained using the contact
theory, such as Hertz-Mindlin model (Mavko et al.
1998). We try to measure the longitudinal and shear
wave velocities in vacuum-, air- and water-saturated
glass beads and beach sands in order to investigate the
effect the air or the water elasticity in the gap between
the grains. Then the frame bulk moduli are derived
from the values of these velocities. These results are
investigated using the gap stiffness model. Moreover,
the frequency dependence of the frame bulk modulus
is considered.
2.1 The Biot-Stoll model
Marine sediment is composed of the assemblage of
the grains, that is the porous skeletal frame and the
pore seawater saturating the pore (see Fig. 1). In the
Biot-Stoll model, (1) the viscous loss occurred by the
relative motion of the pore fluid to that of the frame, (2)
the friction loss occurred by the friction of the grain to
grain contact are considered for the energy loss during
the acoustic wave propagation. The wave equations for
the longitudinal wave in the porous saturated media are
expressed as follows,
where u and U are displacement of the frame and the
pore fluid, respectively. H , C, M are the parameters
that are decided by the elastic constant of the frame,
the grain and the pore fluid. and f are the densities
of the sediment and the pore fluid, respectively. m is the
virtual mass. k is the permeability. is the viscosity.
F is the viscous correction factor. The solutions for e
and of the forms,

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Copyright 2005 Taylor & Francis Group plc, London, UK
 Grain Pore fluid Frame
Grain
Grain Grain

Grain
(a)

h b
Figure 1. Grain, pore-fluid and frame in the Biot-Stoll
model.

a
<Air-saturated> <Water-saturated>

Free draining (b)

Figure 3. Model configuration. (a) Sand grains in contact;

(b) Axisymmetric section through the model.
p p

impervious flexible bag The longitudinal wave velocity can be obtained using
the following equation,
Figure 2. Jacketed test.

Table 1. Values of frame bulk modulus in the Biot-Stoll

model.
The frame bulk modulus is defined by the ratio
Frame Hovem Stoll Turgut of the externally applied isotropic pressure p to the
bulk and and Stern and dilatation e in the jacketed test (see Fig. 2). As the value
modulus Ingram Kan et al. Ogushwitz Yamamoto of the frame bulk modulus, notable researchers in the
community have used about 108 Pa such as Table 1.
Kb (Pa) 1.00 4.36 4.36 1.99 1.08
108 107 108 108 108
2.2 The gap stiffness model
(After N. P. Chotiros, J. Acoust. Soc. Am., 1995)
The gap stiffness model is developed by Murphy et al.
(1986). This model describes acoustic relaxation due
to local fluid flow in the gap between the grains. A frac-
tion of the grain is permeated by sheet-like gaps (see
are considered to obtain a frequency equation. Upon Fig. 3(a)). The incomplete grain-grain contact permits
transformation to the frequency domain, the following an interconnected fluid film to exist between the grain
equation is obtained. surfaces. The model consists of narrow gap connected
to a finite annular pore (see Fig. 3(b)). In Figure 3(b), h
is gap separation distance, a is contact radius, and b is
the radius of the annular pore. An acoustic wave drives
the fluid film out of a narrow gap region and into the
annular pore. The effective stiffness of the gap kg is
That is, the resistance of the gap to applied dynamic loadings,

where F is the acoustic load and h is the displace-

ment of the separation distance. The volume capacity

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Copyright 2005 Taylor & Francis Group plc, London, UK
 kg Gap stiffness

Gap stiffness (real) kg (N/m)

106
kg1

kg1 104

102 kg1kg2
kc
Contact kg2 kg1+kg2
stiffness 100 0
10 102 104 106
Frequency f (Hz)

Figure 5. Example of frequency characteristics for gap

stiffness.
Figure 4. Spring and dashpot model for contact and gap
stiffness.
the elastic stiffness of the solid-solid contact (contact
stiffness) kc and the effective stiffness of the contact
of the annular pore neighborhood per unit rise in gap (gap stiffness) kg . That is,
acoustic pressure is

Spring and dashpot model for the contact stiffness and

the gap stiffness is shown in Figure 4. In this figure,
where Kf is the bulk modulus of the pore fluid. C is kg1 and kg2 are expressed as follows,
a function of the pore volume and the bulk modulus
of the pore fluid. The gap stiffness kg is expressed as
follows,

and is the loss factor of the gap stiffness. At lower

frequency, the gap stiffness kg approaches

where h0 is the initial value of the separartion distance,

J0 and J1 are Bessel functions of the first kind of the At higher frequency, the fluid has no time to flow in
zeroth and first orders, and is defined as, and out. The only compliant part of the gap is the bulk
modulus of the fluid in the gap. Thus, kg reduces to

where is the viscosity of the pore fluid. And Vgap and

Vpore are expressed as, At intermediate frequency, the gap stiffness kg rises
from the minimum kg0 to the maximum kg (see
Fig. 5).

3 MEASUREMENTS OF VELOCITIES

A porous grain contact has an effective normal stiff- We have shown the measured results of the longitu-
ness.The effective stiffness kn is the sum (in parallel) of dinal wave velocity in air-saturated glass beads with

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Copyright 2005 Taylor & Francis Group plc, London, UK
 2000
Longitudinal wave velocity cl (m/s)
Water-saturated
1500
1000
Air-saturated
500
Vacuum-saturated
0 0
-1 0 1
Grain size
Figure 6. Longitudinal wave velocity versus grain size for
water-, air- and vacuum-saturated glass beads.
different grain sizes (0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.8 mm). The results
showed that the longitudinal wave velocity largely
increases, as the grain size increases, with almost the
same porosity. These results can not be explained using
the contact theory, such as Hertz-Mindlin model. We
try to measure the longitudinal and the shear wave
velocities in vacuum-saturated glass beads using the
pulse transmitting method in order to investigate the
effect the air elasticity in the gap between the grains.
The sample in a vessel is densely packed by vibrator.
Piezoelectric transducers with resonant frequency of
50 kHz are used for transmitting and receiving trans-
ducers. One cycle AC pulse with the frequency of
11.8 kHz is used for the transmitting waveform. The
depth for measurement is set with 30 mm to obtain
the same stress condition. The propagation distance
is 19.0 mm. Measurements are done in the vacuum
vessel. The measured results are shown in Figure 6.
From the figure, it is shown that the longitudinal wave
velocity decreases, as the air in the gap is removed.
Especially, the rate of decreasing is increases, as the
grain size increases. The longitudinal wave velocity
is almost the same for glass beads with the differ-
ent grain sizes. It is considered that these results can
be explained using the Hertz-Mindlin model. These
results suggest that there is the effect of the air
elasticity in the gap between the grains.
The longitudinal wave velocities in water-saturated
glass beads with four different grain sizes are mea-
sured. The sample is densely packed by vibrator.
Piezoelectric transducers with resonant frequency of
500 kHz are used for transmitting and receiving trans-
ducers. Five cycle AC pulse with the frequency of
500 kHz is used for the transmitting waveform. The
depth for the measurement is set with 30 mm to obtain
the same stress condition. The propagation distance
is 40.2 mm. The measured results with the results for
Copyright 2005 Taylor & Francis Group plc, London, UK
2000
N = 85
Longitudinal wave velocity cl (m/s)
1500
Water-saturated
1000
Air-saturated
Vacuum-saturated
500
2 3 4 -1 0 1 2 3 4
Grain size
Figure 7. Longitudinal wave velocity versus grain size for
water-, air- and vacuum-saturated beach sands (85 samples).
vacuum- and air-saturated cases are together shown
in Figure 6. It is shown that the longitudinal wave
velocities have dependence on the grain size.
Next, the longitudinal wave velocities in vacuum-,
air- and water-saturated 85 kinds of beach sands are
measured. These beach sands are washed by boiling
before measurements. The measurements are done by
the same vessel and the same method as in the case of
glass beads. The results are shown in Figure 7. From
the figure, it is seen that the longitudinal wave velocity
decreases, as the air in the gap removed. These results
suggest that there is the effect of the air elasticity in the
gap between the grains. It is shown that the longitudinal
wave velocities have dependence on the grain size, as
in the case of glass beads.
The shear wave velocities in vacuum- air- and water-
saturated glass beads with four different grain sizes
and 85 kinds of beach sands are measured. The sam-
ples are densely packed by vibrator. Bimorph type
piezoelectric transducers are used for transmitting and
receiving transducers. Five cycles AC pulse with the
frequency of 3.5 kHz is used for the transmitting wave-
form. The depth for measurement is set with 30 mm to
obtain the same condition for the stress. The propaga-
tion distance is 38.5 mm. The shear wave velocities in
vacuum-samples and air-saturated samples are almost
the same. The average shear wave velocity is 62 m/s for
air-saturated glass beads, 50 m/s for water-saturated
glass beads, 68 m/s for air-saturated beach sands and
57 m/s for water-saturated beach sands.
4 FRAME BULK MODULI
Frame bulk modulus is related to the longitudinal and
shear wave velocities. In the case of vacuum- and air-
saturated samples, the longitudinal wave velocity cl
604
 1010 1010
Water-saturated N = 85
Water-saturated
Frame bulk modulus Kb (Pa)

Frame bulk modulus Kb (Pa)

109 109
Air-saturated Air-
saturated

108 Vacuum-saturated 108

Hertz-Mindlin
107 107

Vacuum-saturated

106 106
-1 0 1 2 3 4 -1 0 1 2 3 4
Grain size Grain size

Figure 8. Frame bulk modulus versus grain size for water-, Figure 9. Frame bulk modulus versus grain size for water-,
air- and vacuum-saturated glass beads. air- and vacuum-saturated beach sands (85 samples).

and the shear wave velocity cs is expressed by the

following equations, Water-saturated
106
Gap stiffness (real) kg (N/m)

Air-saturated
104

where Kb is frame bulk modulus, is shear modulus 102

and is density. Thus, the frame bulk modulus Kb is
determined by the following equations,
100
100 102 104 106
Frequency f (Hz)

Figure 10. Gap stiffness versus frequency for water- and

Therefore, the frame bulk modulus can be obtain using
the measured results of the longitudinal and the shear
wave velocities and the density.
On the other hand, in the case of water-saturated
samples, the frame bulk modulus can not be obtained
using Eq. (20). The reason is due to the inertial and the
viscous interactions between the frame and the pore
fluid. Thus, in the case of water-saturated samples, we
have to use Eqs. (5)(7) in the Biot-Stoll model to
obtain the longitudinal wave velocity. The frame mod-
ulus in water-saturated glass beads and beach sands
are obtained by making agreement the calculated value
of the longitudinal wave velocity using the Biot-Stoll
model with the measured value, by varying the value of
the frame bulk modulus as a parameter. The relation-
ships between the frame bulk modulus in vacuum-,
air- and water-saturated samples and the grain size
are shown in Figures 8 and 9. Figure 8 is for glass
beads, and figure 9 is for beach sands. From figure 8,
it is seen that the frame bulk moduli in vacuum-
saturated glass beads are relatively agree with that
for Hertz-Mindlin model. The frame bulk moduli of
air-saturated glass beads (0.2 mm).
water-saturated glass beads are about 109 Pa and are
ten times greater than that of air-saturated glass beads.
Also, the frame bulk moduli have dependence on the
grain size. From figure 9, it is shown that the frame
bulk moduli of water-saturated beach sands are about
109 Pa and are ten times greater than that of air-
saturated beach sands, and the frame bulk moduli of
air-saturated beach sands are about five times greater
than that of vacuum-saturated. Also, the frame bulk
moduli have dependence on the grain size. Grain size
dependence of the frame bulk moduli for glass beads
and beach sands suggests the frequency dependence
of the frame bulk modulus. The frequency character-
istics of the gap stiffness and the frame bulk modulus
are investigated using the gap stiffness model. The
calculated results of the frequency characteristics of
the real part of the gap stiffness for air- and water-
saturated glass beads with the grain size of 0.2 mm
using Eq. (10) is shown in Figure 10. The values of
the parameters used are as follows, a = 1.0 104 ,

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Copyright 2005 Taylor & Francis Group plc, London, UK

1010
Frame bulk modulus Kb (Pa)
Water-saturated
109
Air-saturated
108
Hertz-Mindlin
107
100 102 104
Frequency f (Hz)
Figure 11. Frame bulk modulus versus frequency for water-
and air-saturated glass beads (0.2 mm).
h0 = 9.6 108 , b = 4.0 105 (for air-saturated),
a = 1.0 107 , h0 = 8.0 1011 , b = 2.0 107 (for
water-saturated). From figure 10, it is seen that gap
stiffness (real) largely varies with the frequency. The
difference between the maximum and the minimum is
about 104 N/m for air-saturated and about 106 N/m for
water-saturated.The relaxation frequency is dependent
on the aspect ratio (=h0 /a) and the viscosity .
The frame bulk modulus Kb is determined by the
contact stiffness kc and gap stiffness kg using the
following equation,
where is porosity, r is radius of the grain, C is coor-
dination number,
is shear modulus of the grain,
is Poissons ratio of the grain, and P is hydrostatic
confining pressure. KbHM is the frequency indepen-
dent term (Hertz-Mindlin term), and Kbg (f ) is the
frequency dependent term (gap stiffness term). The
calculated results of the frame bulk moduli of air-
and water-saturated glass beads with the grain size of
0.2 mm using the gap stiffness in figure 10 are shown
in Figure 11. From figure 11, at lower frequency, the
frame bulk moduli are constant for both cases, become
to increase at some frequency, and become to be
Copyright 2005 Taylor & Francis Group plc, London, UK
constant again at higher frequency. Circles indicate the
derived values using the measured results of the lon-
gitudinal and shear wave velocities. The frequency is
11.8 kHz for vacuum- and air-saturated glass beads,
and 500 kHz for water-saturated glass beads. The
derived values almost agree with the calculated values.
5 CONCLUSIONS
The longitudinal and shear wave velocities in vacuum-,
air- and water-saturated glass beads with four different
106 grain sizes and 85 kinds of beach sands are measured.
Then the frame bulk moduli are derived from the values
of these velocities and the densities.The results showed
that the frame bulk moduli in water-saturated sam-
ples are about 109 Pa and are about ten times greater
than that in air-saturated samples, and the frame bulk
moduli have dependence on the grain size. We showed
that these phenomena can be explained using the gap
stiffness model.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author wishes to express his appreciation to
Dr. Nicholas P. Chotiros for his valuable suggestions.
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Chotiros, N.P. 1995. Biot model of sound propagation in
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